February Birchbox (2016): Product Reviews

Hello! In this post, I will be reviewing my February 2016 box from birchbox. :) Read on! Also, click here to subscribe to birchbox.

The Box

The box itself is a bright, orange/coral color with a few random beauty items on it. Personally, I'm not a fan of this design. It just doesn't really appeal to me.

Arrow Boost Color Enhancing Lip Balm

This product was my favorite in this box, so I'll start with it. :) It's very cool; this is a tinted lip balm that adjusts it's color according to the pH of your skin, so the color may be different on different people! If you apply only a little bit, it's pretty sheer, but if you layer it on a bit more, you can get quite the pop of color.

Supergoop!® Advanced SPF 37 Anti-Aging Eye Cream

I don't particularly need any anti-aging things, so I ended up giving this sample to my mom. I did try it out, of course, so I'll tell you what I can. It felt very nice & soaked in immediately, so it's nice that it didn't feel heavy or thick or anything. It's a sunscreen, so it protects from sunlight. (I generally avoid staying in bright sunlight too much anyway because I'm kind of sensitive to it.) I wish I could say more about it, but it's just not a product that I need. Also, the sample was pretty tiny.

Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle

This one has some pros & cons. For one thing, it's VERY strongly scented. It's not a bad scent, but it's strong, so it may clash with whatever other scents you're wearing. Aside from that, this product is okay. I don't think that my hair liked it very much because it was frizzier than usual when I tried it.. It wasn't weighed down by the product, though. And I really like the spray bottle that it came in! It sprayed wonderfully; some other leave-ins that I use sort of spray in clumps, but this one came out in a perfect mist. Over-all, it's an okay product...just not for me.

Harvey Prince Hello Body Cream

I love the smell of this. I knew I would. It has a great scent, and the lotion itself is pretty moisturizing; however, I've gotten better results from other (cheaper) lotions. So, although I love the scent, I'll stick with my usual lotion.

Dasein Winter

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this scent! It's a little strong for my personal taste, but if I'm careful with it, it's rather nice. Still perhaps not my favorite scent, but nice nonetheless.

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What did you get in your birchbox? Post a comment & let me know! Or, if you haven't subscribed yet, click here.

Also, just an update: I am soon going to set up an area where I can take nice pictures of products and such for reviews, so until I do that, my posts won't have pictures of my own in them. I'll try to get it set up ASAP :)

-CK

February Birchbox (2016): Sneak Peak

Hello, everybody!
If you don't already know, I am subscribed to Birchbox's subscription box; every month, they send a box with 5-6 samples of fun products in it. So, in this post, I will give you a peek at what I will be receiving in my February 2016 birchbox! Read on. (Also, click here to subscribe to birchbox!)

Below are the products I'll be receiving! (Once it arrives, I will be posting my reviews of the products! Stay tuned!)

Arrow Boost Color Enhancing Lip Balm

Arrow is a line that birchbox has recently launched, so I'm curious to try out this product and see how it goes. I'm excited about this one. :)

Supergoop!® Advanced SPF 37 Anti-Aging Eye Cream

I'm only 18, so I'm not exactly concerned about anti-aging products at the moment.. I may actually give this one to my mom for her to try out. Although, it's nice that it has SPF in it; I may use it because of that. Either way, I'll give it a try and see if I like it.


Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle

I don't normally use detanglers, but I'm still looking forward to trying this out.


Harvey Prince Hello Body Cream

This product says it's infused with Harvey Prince's Hello fragrance, which mentions lemon as one of the top notes; I'm obsessed with lemon, so this makes me happy. ;)


Dasein Winter

Meh, I'm not super excited about this one. Fragrances can really be hit or miss with me, and the description of it didn't sound very enticing to me. We'll see.

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And those are what I'll be receiving! What are you getting in this month's birchbox? Share in the comments below!

Stay tuned to read my reviews of these products.

-CK

DIY cuticle oil/How to clean an old nail polish bottle

Do you have an old nail polish bottle that you want to throw away? Well, don't throw it away just yet! You can easily empty it and re-use it for a simple DIY cuticle oil (Scroll down a bit to read the part about the cuticle oil). The first step is to clean out the bottle... by the way, make sure you do all of these in a well-ventilated area because of the polish/acetone fumes.

Cleaning out an old nail polish bottle

Items needed to clean out bottle:

• Acetone nail polish remover
• Something to put down to protect from acetone/polish
• Something to pour nail polish and acetone into/onto
• A q-tip (optional)
• Tin foil (optional)
• A cotton ball (optional)

Step 1

Remove the lid & pour out as much of the old polish as you possibly can. You can pour this into/onto whatever you want; I suggest laying down something under where you're working to prevent any drips/stains. (I'm unsure of what acetone & nail polish do and don't melt through, so I'll let you decide what to put down. Some tin foil, perhaps?)

Step 2

Pour some acetone into the bottle, screw the lid back on, and shake it up to loosen the nail polish. After some shaking, pour it out (into something that the acetone won't melt!). You'll likely have to repeat this step at least one more time to remove all of the nail polish from inside; especially if it had glitter in it! You can also use a q-tip to clean out the lid a bit.

Step 3 (optional)

If the polish bottle has some writing on it that you want to remove, you can try soaking a cotton ball with acetone, pressing it against the writing, and then wrapping the bottle/soaked cotton in tin foil. You can set this aside for about 10-15 minutes and then remove & wipe it off.

Step 4

Do a final rinse with some water, and then you're done! Now you can fill the bottle with whatever you like. I recommend trying out a DIY cuticle oil like the one I'm about to explain below!

DIY Cuticle Oil

Using a cuticle oil regularly is a great way to keep your cuticles/nail beds nicely moisturized & prevent those annoying hangnails, especially during these dry winter days! It's surprisingly simple, too. All you really need are two things: some kind of oil and an empty nail polish bottle. However, it's more fun to combine a few different oils for more benefits! You could even add essential oils for some fun fragrances.

Here are some good oils that you can consider for your personal cuticle oil.

• Coconut oil
• Argan oil
• Olive oil
• Jojoba oil
• Vitamin E oil
• Avocado oil

You can really use just about any oil you want to, but those all have great benefits and moisturizing abilities. ;) Have fun with it! All you need to do is pour your oils into the bottle (you can use a funnel or pipette to make this easier) and shake it up to mix it. (Note: coconut oil at room temperature is usually solid, so you may need to warm it up first.)

To use your cuticle oil, just brush some onto your cuticles/nail beds and gently massage it in. Soon enough, your fingers will be moisturized and healthy!

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About an upcoming post: I've just ordered Essie's apricot cuticle oil and will be comparing it to my very own DIY cuticle oil (I used all of the oils mentioned above except for avocado oil). I'll be using Essie's on one hand and mine on the other & seeing which one works better. :) I don't know how long this will take, though. Either way, stay tuned!

-CK

Is Birchbox worth it?

In this post, I will be sharing my opinions and experiences with birchbox. You may be wondering if birchbox is worth the monthly $10..

In short: Yes!

If you'd like to sign up for birchbox, click here.

Now for a more in-depth answer. :)

I had been eyeing birchbox for quite some time, unsure if I should subscribe or not. I'm the kind of person who loves experimenting with new products, so the idea of receiving products to try every month was very appealing to me. I read numerous reviews & thought about it for awhile; I was just too curious, so I finally gave in and purchased the monthly subscription! Read on to hear about my experience with birchbox.

The point system

Honestly, I think my favorite thing about birchbox is their points system. It's so awesome. You can purchase products in their shop using the points that you've gathered, and the points build up pretty quickly!

Every month, you'll receive 5-6 products in your box; for each of your samples that you review, you'll get 10 points to spend in their shop (10 points is equal to $1). If you review all 5 products, that's $5 back! This is really awesome because you can use those points towards anything in their shop, whether it be something you sampled & want to buy the full size of or something new to try. They have a lot of really nice products in their shop!

Plus, every time you buy something from their shop, you get 1 point for every dollar you spend. So, basically, it's like getting 50% off of every box and 10% off of every purchase back in points to spend in their shop!

Samples received

In my experience, the birchbox samples have been nice. I've found several new products that I love through them. I've found that pretty much all of the samples have been decently sized and have lasted me a long time; there were only a couple that I thought were kind of small.

So far, I've gotten 4 monthly boxes, and I've just signed up for the yearly subscription since it's a little cheaper than the monthly. Out of those 4 boxes, there have only been about 2 samples that I haven't liked. Even then, they were the kind of products that I really like trying out; I just ended up not liking that specific product (one was a mascara that wouldn't hold a curl; the other was a cleanser that irritated my skin). That's the whole point of sampling anyway: to find out whether or not you like the product. :)

Another thing that I like about the samples is that some of them are very nice, luxury type products. It's always fun to try stuff like that!

One thing that I really like about birchbox is that they ask you a bunch of questions (e.g. What's your skin type, what's your hair type, what items would you prefer to receive, etc.) when you set up your account so that they can tailor your monthly samples to better suit your needs. :)

Sample choice

There are other fun things that I've enjoyed about birchbox. There's a sample choice that you get to make each month, and they usually have a few options to choose from. This varies from month to month! It's always fun to be able to choose one of your samples. :)

Sometimes, they'll also have limited-edition boxes that have pre-chosen samples that you can opt for instead of the random monthly samples. I usually just go for the normal monthly box; I like the fun of not knowing what you're going to get. ;)

Customer service

Birchbox has great customer service! I've only needed to contact them twice, and both times have been very pleasant; my issues were quickly resolved, and the people were very friendly about it. Having good customer service is always important to me, and birchbox' customer service is great. :)

My final opinion

Birchbox is a great company and I highly recommend trying out their monthly subscription! It's very fun to receive a box filled with goodies each month, and I've been very happy with what I've gotten. ;)

I hope you've enjoyed this review! I'll be reviewing my monthly boxes from birchbox every month as I receive them, so stay tuned. Have a great week!

-CK

DIY Lotion Spray

Wouldn't it be nice to have a sprayable lotion? I'm sure there's a product like this out there, but I'd like to share a really simple DIY with you instead. Plus, if you do it like this, you can use whatever lotion you want. Let's get started!

Supplies:

•Your favorite lotion

•Spray/mist bottle

•Water (you could even use coconut water!)

•Whatever else you'd like to add to customize your spray! (Ideas later in post.)

Step 1

Put your lotion into the spray bottle. (Don't fill it all the way up.)

Step 2

Put water (or coconut water!) into the spray bottle, screw the lid on, and shake vigorously; add enough liquid so that it becomes a sprayable consistency after shaking. (How much liquid you need to add will probably depend on the lotion you choose; this is why I didn't put any certain measurements.)

Step 3 (optional)

Add anything else you want! The world is your oyster. ;) You could try coconut oil, Argan oil, essential oils, vitamin E.. Basically anything. Have fun customizing your spray!

That's literally all that you have to do! It's so simple, and it's much faster to apply like this. Once you've done this, you can easily spray your lotion on and give it a quick rub to spread it more evenly. It's super simple & convenient!

Bonus tip: Moisturize right after you take a shower. This is when your skin really needs moisture to be locked in! Doing this is especially crucial during winter when the skin is more prone to being dry.

-CK

Facial Skincare Routine

I'd like to start off this blog by explaining the basic steps of skincare for the face. :) Setting up the right skincare routine for yourself is the key to beautiful skin. Read on!

Finding your skin type

There are four basic skin types: dry, normal, combination, and oily. You also need to know how sensitive your skin is.

Dry skin: Tends to be dry, dull, and prone to peeling/cracking. Doesn't produce much sebum.

Normal skin: Not super dry & not super oily. Basically not very problematic :)

Combo skin: A combo of oily & dry skin. Usually, the T-zone (forehead, nose, chin) will be oily and the cheeks dry.

Oily skin: Produces a lot of sebum, prone to acne/blackheads, tends to have large pores.

Sensitive skin: Prone to itchiness, redness, burning, & dryness.

Once you've identified your skin type, you can tailor your skincare routine to your needs!

Cleanser

Cleansing your skin should be the first  step of your routine. :) Finding the right cleanser for your skin is important. If your skin is sensitive, you'll want to avoid harsh/irritating ingredients like sulfates, alchohol, fragrances. Instead, opt for more natural, gentle ingredients.

When you wash your face, you can just use your hands to gently massage the product into your face, or you can find a tool for it. There are various cleansing brushes/tools on the market. I personally use a small sponge meant for cleansing the face.

Tip: when you're washing your face over the sink, put scrunchies on your wrists. If you're like me, water ends up getting everywhere when you wash your face over the sink; putting scrunchies on your wrists prevents the water from dripping down your arms. You can also lay a towel across the front of the sink so it doesn't get all over the countertop. :)

Toner

The next (and often skipped/forgotten) step in your routine should be toner. Toner is used to balance the pH of your skin and clean up anything that your cleanser didn't catch.

To tone your skin: grab a cotton pad/ball, put some toner on it, and gently swipe all over your face. Don't rub too hard (especially if you have sensitive skin)! Toners can be drying, so if you have dry/sensitive skin, be careful when selecting your toner.

Moisturizer

Immediately following your toner, you'll need to moisturize your face. Even oily skin needs to be moisturized! If you have oily skin, just try to find a light moisturizer. If your skin is dry, you'll want to find something very moisturizing.

Now, if you only want the necessities, you can stop after the moisturizer. However, there are a couple other things you can add to your skincare routine if you're wanting a bit more!

Exfoliation

There are different ways to exfoliate your face. I recommend finding a more gentle exfoliant, especially if you have sensitive skin. Exfoliating removes dead skin cells (and, if you wear makeup, it will apply much smoother!). I like to use the simple combination of sugar and coconut oil. :)

It's best to exfoliate after cleansing & toning. Try not to exfoliate too often so you don't irritate your skin! I recommend exfoliating once or twice a week.

Face masks

Face masks can do a variety of things depending on which one you use! If your skin is dry & needs a boost of moisture, I highly recommend the Yes to Coconut ultra hydrating mask. My skin (it's combination & sensitive) loves it, and it smells wonderful. ;)

It's best to do a face mask after cleansing and toning.

And that's about it! There are other things that you can add to the list (like a serum or acne treatment if necessary), but that's all that I personally do. Hope you've enjoyed this post!

Bonus tip: drink lots of water! Staying well-hydrated keeps your skin looking radiant & beautiful.

-CK

New blog; first post!

Hello everybody! I created this blog to share all of the makeup & skincare tips that I gather. Stay tuned! ;)

-CK